Friends,
Reservation has never been under attack as strongly as it is now. 5 lac Patels ,who are amongst the richest communities of the world, have come together and attacked reservation; they have demanded that either they be given reservation or reservation should be abolished. Various sections of society have demanded that reservations should be on economic basis. If SCs and STs sit quietly, then days are not far when it will be finished. Earlier people had this misconception that whosoever snatches reservations will have to pay a very heavy price for it; they should know that more than one-third of reserved posts have been abolished by stopping recruitments in class IV, introducing outsourcing and employing on contract basis. People are waiting for their battle to be fought by MPs, MLAs and other representatives. Employees and officer crib and curse saying that politicians should fight for our rights, they should resign – are the employees and officers not getting the benefit of reservation? Employees and officers can also fight against abolition of reservation and sacrifice their jobs for the cause. Both employees and politicians enjoy benefits of caste certificates and reservation. The All India Confederation of SC/ST Organisations was formed in 1997; we fought with this belief that employees should fight on their own, and not depend on politicians. Why should not the strength of employees and social activists be used for protecting rights and self – respect; politicians cant be asked to fight at gunpoint, so let us use our own strength. Politicians have to work at the dictate of their bosses – most parties are led by those of forward castes, and not much can be expected of them. Employees and social activists don’t work under any pressure and nothing can affect their jobs. If they come together in lacs, then enormous pressure will be built and politicians will have to step forward to support our cause, and parties also cannot go against us. When the Confederation held a historic rally on 11th December, 2000 at Ramleela Maidan, New Delhi, 3 Constitutional Amendments were made. To give a fitting reply to the 5 lac rally by Patels, we must hold a rally with 10 lac people at Ramleela Maidan, New Delhi on 7th December.

In Uttar Pradesh, lakhs of employees have started getting demoted. The right to reservation in promotion was given by the 85th Constitutional Amendment. The second time, when we had to save reservation in promotions in 2006 in the Supreme Court, National ChairmanDr. Udit Raj personally approached the Minister of Social Justice, Law Minister and the DOPT Minister to ensure that private lawyers were engaged to fight the case in the Supreme Court. Due to Dr. Udit Raj’s efforts, Advocates KK Parasaran, M. Mariarputnam and Subba Rao were appointed by the Government to fight the case at a cost of 40 lacs, after which we were able to save reservation in promotions in Supreme Court. Again on 4th January 2011, when the Lucknow High Court ended reservation in promotions, Dr. Udit Raj again tried to save it for the third time, the employees and officials there treated him like an untouchable and started doing demonstrations of their own accord. When he did not receive any support, he had to stay quiet, and these employees and officers are also responsible for demotions. They not only wasted their time and money in the wrong direction, but also gave a message to the Government that we have no unity amongst ourselves, which was not the case in 1997 when we fought against the Government orders which were destroying reservation. In the last 18 years, has any other SC/ST organisation other than the Confederation, fought and secured the rights? Reservation in Lokpal was given when we introduced the Bahujan Lokpal Bill. A Ministerial committee was formed in 2004 and an officers committee was made in 2006 and 2008 for consideration of reservation in private sector, but at that time, the Confederation did not receive desired support from our brethren, otherwise the situation would have been very different now. Sometimes, our people are carried away by emotion and caste and this is what happened. Earlier we were fighting for betterment, now we have to fight to save what we already have.

Several so – called Ambedkarites have not stopped attacking Dr. Udit Raj for joining the BJP. They should understand that he has raised the most number of issues related to the rights and exploitation of Dalits in Parliament, no other Member comes even close. Why don’t they discuss which party was in power in Uttar Pradesh when the right to reservation in promotion was stopped? Now the only way is to fight together in lacs so we are able to save reservations. Every day attacks on Dalits are increasing. To fight this, we have to be united and there is no other way to empower ourself other than reservations. Has anyone stopped us from being a part of media, industries, share markets, higher education, armed forces etc.? Those who fight for reservation are told that they are fighting for the welfare of only a few people, why don’t they fight for participation in other sectors as well. What has stopped such people to fight in other areas?

There is no sympathy for Dalits, Backwards or women that they can be empowered except unity and strength. Will the Government not be bound to pass the bill for reservation in promotion if 10 lac people gather at the Ramleela Maidan on 7th December 2015? The anti reservationists will not stand if we counter them with such strength. Please assemble in lacs at Ramleela Maidan, New Delhi on 7th December at 10 AM.